Giving poultry necessary antibiotics when bacterial infections arise always comes with a veterinary warning to withhold eating or selling eggs for a period of time.
This article could actually be re-titled "How I poisoned myself by one egg in July" because that is precisely what I did even though I am a strong advocate for egg withhold. AND I am highly allergic to Penicillin based antibiotics.
Egg withhold from antibiotics is recommended to between 14 to 45 days.
Longer is better especially for people who are very sensitive to the drug, like me.
That is because the antibiotics are transmitted into the reproductive area of the poultry. While the yolks are actively growing in the body before the shell is added, they are directly exposed to the medication.
The meat of the bird is also directly exposed to the medication and also cannot be consumed within this withhold period.
Different medications may have a longer or shorter withhold, but this must always be discussed with your vet for clarification.
Worming medications that contain the active ingredient of Levimasole do not have any withhold period. It is quite safe to eat eggs during that medication. However, there are some other types that may include egg withhold.
Please read instructions carefully and consult your vet for clear directions.
How I Poisoned Myself By One Egg in July
Hi, my name is Janine. I'm a chicken owner who had a sick Orpington hen. And I did bad egg withhold practice. I am also terribly allergic to penicillin.
To be honest, July is winter and often my hens stop laying or lay more infrequently during the cold months and I really did not think that my sick hen was going to lay. In fact, my husband even rolled his eyes at me when I suggested that we get the outside quarantine shed ready for her, as she had been kept inside and warm while she was receiving her five days of antibiotic treatment by injection.
To set up that yard in heavy rain was looking really unappealing and we hadn't noticed her lay an egg throughout the whole time we had her inside in a pet tent.
The purpose of quarantining her outside after the medication is to help prevent spread of her illness and to not confuse her eggs with the other healthy hens. Since it was bacterial and not viral it cut out one of the reasons to keep in quarantine. Combined with the no eggs, why keep her locked up on her own, at all?
The perfect storm was brewing.
We let her go...and she laid an egg.
And I knew which one was her egg.
That's the beauty of owning different breeds, their egg colour can be very useful to tell who is laying.
I have previously eaten an egg 14 days after the last antibiotics were given to one of my hens a couple of years ago, and I did not feel very good in my stomach. But it passed and I got better again by the next day.
But I had never consumed an egg from a treated hen so soon after the last injection was given.
Could I handle it?
Well, by this point you are probably thinking I planned to do this.
No, you would be wrong.
In fact, I accidentally ate that egg. And it was only a little later in the day that I realised my error!
Allergy Signs of a Penicillin Sensitive Person
These signs are based on my personal experience only.
If I had taken a penicillin based antibiotic directly into my body by tablet or injection I would be taken to the emergency department of the nearest hospital. My condition would have been much more severe. Mental confusion, migraines, vomiting and pains are the result from wrongfully prescribing that type of medication to someone like me.
So great was my mental confusion that I cannot accurately describe my experiences, but I do know that I was given morphine to help with the severe pains.
Ingesting an antibiotic through egg or meat has a slightly different effect.
DAY 1 - Tummy upset, slight mental confusion begins, generally not feeling very well, need to lay down.
(In the shower I attempted to shave my armpits with my toothbrush, type of confusion)
DAY 2 - Feeling very unwell, kidney and liver pains, stomach upset. Increased discomfort with the unsure feeling of which end everything will come out of.
DAY 3 to 5 - Inability to leave the house or be too far from a toilet. Mouth ulcers begin to appear. Antibiotics also kill off all the good bacteria so they need to be replaced with Probiotics during this time. The pain from kidneys and liver causes fever and shakes. This is controlled by anti-inflammatory medication every 6 hours.
DAY 6 - Pains decrease significantly. Able to work and eat again without incident. Feeling of illness begins to lift.
It was HORRIBLE!
Please learn from my mistake and obey the egg withhold instructions.
14 to 45 days.
Eggs must be placed in the bin.
Not fed back to the chickens, sold/given away in a carton or placed in the compost.
Bin them.
Even if you do not have an antibiotic allergy, ingesting egg or meat that has been treated will be absorbed by your body to some degree. Long term use of antibiotics can have a detrimental effect for future medical use and can lead to a future intolerance.
Has this ever happened to you?
Let us know in the comments below.
This article could actually be re-titled "How I poisoned myself by one egg in July" because that is precisely what I did even though I am a strong advocate for egg withhold. AND I am highly allergic to Penicillin based antibiotics.
Egg withhold from antibiotics is recommended to between 14 to 45 days.
Longer is better especially for people who are very sensitive to the drug, like me.
That is because the antibiotics are transmitted into the reproductive area of the poultry. While the yolks are actively growing in the body before the shell is added, they are directly exposed to the medication.
The meat of the bird is also directly exposed to the medication and also cannot be consumed within this withhold period.
Different medications may have a longer or shorter withhold, but this must always be discussed with your vet for clarification.
Worming medications that contain the active ingredient of Levimasole do not have any withhold period. It is quite safe to eat eggs during that medication. However, there are some other types that may include egg withhold.
Please read instructions carefully and consult your vet for clear directions.
How I Poisoned Myself By One Egg in July
Hi, my name is Janine. I'm a chicken owner who had a sick Orpington hen. And I did bad egg withhold practice. I am also terribly allergic to penicillin.
To be honest, July is winter and often my hens stop laying or lay more infrequently during the cold months and I really did not think that my sick hen was going to lay. In fact, my husband even rolled his eyes at me when I suggested that we get the outside quarantine shed ready for her, as she had been kept inside and warm while she was receiving her five days of antibiotic treatment by injection.
To set up that yard in heavy rain was looking really unappealing and we hadn't noticed her lay an egg throughout the whole time we had her inside in a pet tent.
The purpose of quarantining her outside after the medication is to help prevent spread of her illness and to not confuse her eggs with the other healthy hens. Since it was bacterial and not viral it cut out one of the reasons to keep in quarantine. Combined with the no eggs, why keep her locked up on her own, at all?
The perfect storm was brewing.
We let her go...and she laid an egg.
And I knew which one was her egg.
That's the beauty of owning different breeds, their egg colour can be very useful to tell who is laying.
I have previously eaten an egg 14 days after the last antibiotics were given to one of my hens a couple of years ago, and I did not feel very good in my stomach. But it passed and I got better again by the next day.
But I had never consumed an egg from a treated hen so soon after the last injection was given.
Could I handle it?
Well, by this point you are probably thinking I planned to do this.
No, you would be wrong.
In fact, I accidentally ate that egg. And it was only a little later in the day that I realised my error!
Allergy Signs of a Penicillin Sensitive Person
These signs are based on my personal experience only.
If I had taken a penicillin based antibiotic directly into my body by tablet or injection I would be taken to the emergency department of the nearest hospital. My condition would have been much more severe. Mental confusion, migraines, vomiting and pains are the result from wrongfully prescribing that type of medication to someone like me.
So great was my mental confusion that I cannot accurately describe my experiences, but I do know that I was given morphine to help with the severe pains.
Ingesting an antibiotic through egg or meat has a slightly different effect.
DAY 1 - Tummy upset, slight mental confusion begins, generally not feeling very well, need to lay down.
(In the shower I attempted to shave my armpits with my toothbrush, type of confusion)
DAY 2 - Feeling very unwell, kidney and liver pains, stomach upset. Increased discomfort with the unsure feeling of which end everything will come out of.
DAY 3 to 5 - Inability to leave the house or be too far from a toilet. Mouth ulcers begin to appear. Antibiotics also kill off all the good bacteria so they need to be replaced with Probiotics during this time. The pain from kidneys and liver causes fever and shakes. This is controlled by anti-inflammatory medication every 6 hours.
DAY 6 - Pains decrease significantly. Able to work and eat again without incident. Feeling of illness begins to lift.
It was HORRIBLE!
Please learn from my mistake and obey the egg withhold instructions.
14 to 45 days.
Eggs must be placed in the bin.
Not fed back to the chickens, sold/given away in a carton or placed in the compost.
Bin them.
Even if you do not have an antibiotic allergy, ingesting egg or meat that has been treated will be absorbed by your body to some degree. Long term use of antibiotics can have a detrimental effect for future medical use and can lead to a future intolerance.
Has this ever happened to you?
Let us know in the comments below.
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